Saturday will be presidential candidate Herman Cain's first visit to Iowa since news broke of financial settlements for sexual harasssment claims against him. Cain is with the Family Leader's Bob Vander Plaats in this June 6 Register photo.

Evangelical conservatives seeking an alternative in the not-Mitt Romney six-pack have yet to flock to a candidate they believe can salvage enough credibility to beat Romney in Iowa.

But some leading evangelicals see a different question arising from their quandary: Should Romney himself be working to be their man?

A forum this coming Saturday in Des Moines hosted by the Family Leader is designed to ensure that the 1,500 or more likely caucusgoing Christians in the audience find a permanent home. Six candidates have RSVP’d, but Romney hasn’t decided yet whether to attend.

“I don’t think Romney should walk away from these caucusgoers — it’s only a pickup for him,” said event organizer Bob Vander Plaats. “He and Ann, they’ve had a tremendous marriage. He’s got an outstanding family. In a lot of ways, he’s the picture of what the American family should look like.”

Since televangelist Pat Robertson surged to second place in 1988, Iowa evangelicals have proved pivotal in deciding the coveted top three finishers in the Republican caucuses. In The Des Moines Register’s late October Iowa Poll, 37 percent of likely Republican caucusgoers identified themselves as born-again Christians. An even larger bloc in the poll, 45 percent, consider themselves very conservative on social issues such as abortion and gay marriage.

Likely caucusgoers this cycle rate the economy and the deficit as the most important issues for the next president to address, above moral issues. Romney has emphasized those issues in his campaign.

Still, social conservatives have found it hard to warm to Romney. Many find it deeply unsettling that he has not always steadfastly opposed same-sex marriage and abortion. And he’s not a favorite among the new bloc of tea party adherents, with their laser focus on limited government and strict interpretation of the Constitution.

But as the six other challengers competing in Iowa have failed to gain traction or surged and fallen back, there’s a grudging realization that Romney is a guy who won’t embarrass them, several conservatives here said.

Iowa’s social conservatives this fall were already sifting through Michele Bachmann’s occasional loose grip on the facts and Newt Gingrich’s three marriages and an early campaign dust-up when he called House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s Medicare plan “radical.” In the past two weeks, add in the accusations of unwanted sexual advances in Herman Cain’s past and Rick Perry’s foggy thinking in a nationally televised debate.

It’s left Republicans who aren’t Romney fans without an obvious choice. Many Iowa Republicans say they aren’t ruling anyone out yet. Indeed, as of the October poll, before the turbulence for Cain and Perry, only one in four likely caucusgoers said their mind was made up.

Forum seeks clarity on values, principles

Enter Frank Luntz, who will be the forum’s moderator.

“This forum will happen at the greatest moment of political chaos, and my mission is for the forum to provide clarity within that chaos,” said Luntz, a high-energy Fox News regular known for his efforts to gauge voter response to candidates.

The tennis-shoe-wearing Luntz said his prep book is already 40 pages long as he devises questions meant to reveal each candidate’s true character.

“I want questions that they haven’t been asked, and I want them not to be able to use talking points,” Luntz, a McLean, Va., resident, said in a telephone interview. “This is one of the greatest honors of my life, and it may be the single most important responsibility I’ll ever have.”

Each question will have a values and principles component, he said. One likely question: “In 14 months, on Jan. 20, 2013, each of you hopes to take the oath of office. What do the words ‘so help me God’ mean to you?”

The forum’s organizers — the Family Leader, Focus on the Family and the National Organization for Marriage — have a decidedly anti-gay-marriage slant.

Vander Plaats, a Sioux City Republican, spearheaded the rallying of political forces to oust three of the Iowa Supreme Court justices who ruled in 2009 that it is unconstitutional to limit marriage to one man and one woman.

And his organization, the Family Leader, this past summer crafted a 14-point marriage pledge that calls for opposition to anything but one-man/one-woman marriage.

Vander Plaats said the Family Leader would hold off on any endorsement until after this forum — and would not endorse any candidate who didn’t sign the pledge.

Only Bachmann and Rick Santorum signed. Romney called it “ill-advised.”

Romney is urged: Reassure this group

Vander Plaats said last week that all are welcome at the forum — including Romney.

“He really needs to assure this audience that they don’t need to look for an alternative, that he can be their president as well,” Vander Plaats said.

During Wednesday’s GOP debate in Michigan, Romney tried to address the inconsistency rap against him, saying he has been married 42 years, attended the same church his entire life, and worked for one company for 25 years.

“I think people understand that I’m a man of steadiness and constancy,” Romney said.“I don’t think you are going to find somebody who has more of those attributes than I do.”

Vander Plaats said Romney can move past his reputation for position changes on social issues.

“If he can assure people that ‘I can carry the water for you as well,’ these people will be crucial for his success, not only for winning the caucuses — which I think he could — but if he’s the nominee, he wants this base to work for him.”

Some Iowa conservatives disagreed about the wisdom of Romney potentially attending the forum.

Political consultant Ed Failor Jr. of Muscatine, a former Tim Pawlenty aide who is now unaligned, said that if Romney skips this forum, it would be no different from Romney skipping other multi-candidate forums.

“When you’re the lead dog, everybody tends to be shooting at you, and you want to limit your exposure to an environment where potshots are being taken at you,” Failor said.

What’s key is that Romney hasn’t missed any big debates, he said.

Gopal Krishna, a leader among social conservatives and co-chairman of the Faith and Freedom Coalition, said: “Romney ran a really, really expensive campaign in Iowa in the last election and reached out to every person in Iowa. I don’t think he’s saying, ‘Iowa, you’re not important’ — he’s doing a different political strategy because he wants to do better this cycle.”

Krishna, a GOP state central committee member who has not endorsed a presidential candidate, said it’s understandable that Romney wants to prevent a repeat of 2008 .

Romney finished a disappointing second place to former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee in the caucuses. Then his bid fell apart in New Hampshire when John McCain won there.

For four years, Romney campaign aides have fought to keep expectations low, so that it’s never expected that he has to win Iowa on his path to the nomination.

Iowa backers say a second- or third-place finish here is not a roadblock — as long as he wins New Hampshire and builds from there.

But it’s been harder to tamp down expectations as other candidates have struggled.

Romney has made just four visits to the Hawkeye State this year, but has remained among poll leaders here. Cain edged Romney by a single percentage point in the October Iowa Poll, 23 percent to 22 percent, before the sexual harassment allegations surfaced.

Evangelical voters could prove a hurdle, though. Born-again Christians showed him little affection in the October poll: Among this group, he tied for fourth with Santorum at 9 percent. (Cain led with 26 percent.)

One poll respondent, evangelical Christian Jason Kramer, said he doesn’t think Romney lines up with his own strict opposition to abortion and gay marriage, or belief that border security is a priority. And Kramer said Romney’s Mormon faith also gives him some discomfort.

“I don’t want (President Barack) Obama in the White House,” said Kramer, 37, a Slater resident who works in marketing. But he also said: “I don’t think we’d be better off with Mitt Romney in there than we are right now.”

Thanksgiving Family Forum

CANDIDATES: Sitting shoulder to shoulder around a “Thanksgiving table” facing the audience on Saturday will be Rick Santorum, Rick Perry, Ron Paul, Newt Gingrich, Herman Cain and Michele Bachmann.DRESS CODE: Organizer Bob Vander Plaats said the audience attire will be “business casual,” but the candidates were asked “to dress like they’re going to Thanksgiving dinner.”MODERATORS: Frank Luntz, a Fox News contributor who has turned political focus groups into a speciality, will moderate one hour and 40 minutes of the two-hour program. Officials from two groups will each lead 10-minute segments. Tom Minnery, executive director of CitizenLink, an affiliate of the the Colorado-based Focus on the Family, will do one. Brian Brown, president of the National Organization for Marriage, will do the other.WHEN: Doors open at 2:30 p.m. Organizers are requiring a photo ID for security. The forum runs from 4 to 6 p.m.WHERE: The audience will sit in pews at the First Federated Church in Des Moines, which has a capacity of 3,400. So far, just over 1,500 people have bought the $40 tickets for the event.MEDIA: Dozens of political reporters are expected. No major network is booked to do live coverage, but it will be live-streamed at www.citizenlink.com.FOCUS GROUP: Afterward, Luntz will pull 25 Iowa moms from the audience to do a focus group on their reactions to the candidates. That interview will be part of a special that airs on Fox News on Nov. 23, he said.